Wannarexia

Wannarexia, or anorexic yearning,cite journal
author = Hardin, P.K.
year = 2003
title = Shape-shifting discourses of anorexia nervosa: reconstituting psychopathology
journal = Nursing Inquiry
volume = 10
issue = 4
pages = 209–217
doi = 10.1046/j.1440-1800.2003.00189.x
quote=Anorexic yearning. Accounts of individuals stating that they want to become anorexic stirred the greatest energetic debate on the Internet boards.] is a label applied to someone who claims to have anorexia nervosa, or wishes they did. [cite web | url = http://eatingdisorders.about.com/b/a/000106.htm | title = Wannarexia? | accessdate = 2007-10-18 | date = 2007-08-10 | author = Tiemeyer, Matthew | work = About.com|quote=…'wannarexia' refers to someone who wants to 'catch' anorexia in order to lose weight and, presumably, be more popular. ] These individuals are also called wannarexic “wanna-be ana”cite journal
author = Giles, D.
year = 2006
title = Constructing identities in cyberspace: The case of eating disorders
journal = British Journal of Social Psychology
volume = 45
issue = 3
pages = 463–477
accessdate = 2007-08-25
doi = 10.1348/014466605X53596] or "anorexic wannabe". The neologism "wannarexia" is a portmanteau of the latter two terms. It may be used as a pejorative term.cite journal
author = Cohen, D.
year = 2007
title = Live from London The worrying world of eating disorder wannabes
journal = BMJ (British Medical Journal)
volume = 335
issue = 7618
pages = 516
doi = 10.1136/bmj.39328.510880.59
quote = Wannarexia is a pejorative term and…is the latest word to come from the fast paced world of eating disorder terminology…. Community websites for genuinely anorexic and bulimic people have hit back by setting up sites offering advice to those trying to 'develop anorexia,' saying that they don't want their 'warped perspectives and dangerous behaviour to affect others.']

Wannarexia is a cultural phenomenon and has no diagnostic criteria, although some wannarexics may be instead diagnosed with eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS).cite news|title = Bad fad: Wannarexia|work = Associated Press|publisher = AM New York|date = 2007-08-06|pages = 24|author = Bauman, Valerie] Wannarexia is found in teenage girls who want to be popular, and is likely caused by a combination of cultural and media influences.

The distinction between anorexia and wannarexia is that anorexics aren't satisfied by their weight loss, while wannarexics are more likely to derive pleasure from weight loss.cite news |url=http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--wannabe-eating-di0804aug04,0,532415.story?page=2 |title='Wannarexic' girls aspire to be anorexic, eating disordered |accessdate=2007-08-06 | work=Newsday|date=2007-08-04|author=Bauman, Valerie|quote=Most commonly found among teenage girls, wannarexia is a label describing those who claim to have anorexia, or wish they did.] Many people who actually suffer from the eating disorder anorexia are angry, offended, or frustrated about wannarexia.

Although wannarexics may be inspired or motivated by the pro-anorexia, or pro-ana, community that promotes or supports anorexia as a lifestyle choice rather than an eating disorder,cite journal
author = Lyons, E.J.
coauthors = Mehl, M.R.; Pennebaker, J.W.
year = 2006
title = Pro-anorexics and recovering anorexics differ in their linguistic Internet self-presentation
journal = Journal of Psychosomatic Research
volume = 60
issue = 3
pages = 253–256
url = http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022399905002783
accessdate = 2007-08-08
quote = Pro-anorexia has emerged as a new and emotionally charged eating disorder phenomenon…self-identified pro-anorexics…defend anorexia as a lifestyle…
doi = 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.07.017] they are not welcome in this subculture. Participants in pro-ana web forums only want to associate with "real anorexics" and will shun wannarexics who only diet occasionally, and are not dedicated to the lifestyle full-time. [cite web |url=http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/node/69 |title=No Wannarexics Allowed: An Analysis of Online Eating Disorder Communities | work= Digital Youth Project |accessdate=2007-08-06 |author=Pascoe, C.J. |publisher=University of California, Berkeley|quote=According to the posters on these sites a 'wannarexic' is someone who occasionally diets but who is not dedicated to an eating disordered lifestyle.] Community websites for genuine anorexics and bulimics have posted advice to wannarexics saying that they don't want their "warped perspectives and dangerous behaviour to affect others."

Further reading

*cite web
url=http://www.heractivelife.com/women/comment/wannarexia-when-death-becomes-trendy/
title=Wannarexia: When Death Becomes Trendy
accessdate=2007-08-25
author=Drummond, Katie
date=2007-08-08
work=Her Active Life
publisher=The Final Sprint, LLC
quote=…but for many young women, anorexia has become a hot new trend, so common that medical experts have coined a new name, ‘wannarexia,’ to describe the dangerous fad.
*cite book
author=Forman-Brunell, Miriam
title=Girlhood in America: an encyclopedia
publisher=ABC-CLIO
location=Santa Barbara, Calif
year=2001
pages= p. 245
isbn=1-57607-206-1
oclc=
doi=
quote=With this widespread popularization of the illness, susceptible girls could be heard to say, not "I want to be thin" but "I want to be anorexic.
*cite book |author=Kano, Susan|chapter=Anorexic Thoughts and Attitudes |title=Making peace with food: freeing yourself from the diet/weight obsession |publisher=Perennial Library/Harper & Row Publishers |location=New York, NY |year=1989 |pages= |isbn=0-06-096328-X |quote=Most young women have "anorexic thoughts" and attitudes
*cite book
author=Rachael Oakes-Ash
chapter=So you want to be anorexic—join the queue
title=Good girls do swallow
publisher=Mainstream
location=Edinburgh
year=2001
isbn=1-84018-480-9cite journal
author = Warin, M.J.
year = 2006
title = Reconfiguring Relatedness in Anorexia
journal = Anthropology & Medicine
volume = 13
issue = 1
pages = 41–54
url = http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/index/K0365TQ226306175.pdf
accessdate = 2007-08-07
quote = There were some who were called ‘anorexic wannabes’—these were the people who wanted to be anorexic, and actively pursued what they called ‘the coveted title'
doi = 10.1080/13648470500516147 ]

References